Angela and Kevin’s wedding, also known as “The wedding I shot because of the wedding I shot because of the wedding I shot…”

Makes perfect sense right? I just returned from the East Coast and shooting the Tickle-Ripp wedding in Baltimore. I joked with several friends about the wedding any time I was asked how I ended up shooting way out in Maryland. “Oh! Well, I met Kevin and Angela at a wedding I was shooting in Michigan. Kevin was the Best Man to Ray, who married Alison. And I met Alison two years prior when she was a bridesmaid for Jessica…. did you follow all that?”

For those of you reading, here’s a easy-to-understand graphic…

I constantly say how flattering it is that my clients bring me all over the country to shoot for them. And connections like this one (the Ripp wedding) are an incredible example of friendships made during business trips.

When I first met Kevin and Angela it was during the Johnson wedding – during the rehearsal dinner. I was among the first to arrive at the restaurant along with Kevin and Angela. We all were sitting at the bar talking about various things, including how I was there from California and they were in town from DC.
From just the first 20 minutes or so sitting with the two of them chatting about nothing important it was clear how much they cared about each other. Several of us joke about how they’re disgustingly cute together – and that’s the truth. But at the same time it’s so awesome when you see people that can be totally genuine around each other AND others at the same time.
We kept in touch through facebook and followed each others photos after returning to our home states. And after they were engaged I was thrilled when I got an email from Kevin asking about coming out to Baltimore to shoot for them!

I was excited to arrive in Baltimore and meet up with everyone when that Friday afternoon for the rehearsal finally rolled around. If the Tickle and Ripp families and friends were anything like Kevin and Angela, then it was going to be an awesome couple days!
We all met up at the hotel and then headed out to the church for practice – there was a ton of traffic. On my cab ride there I talked to the driver about how he had come to the US and built a new life for himself. As we talked about travel and travel-times he laughingly said that as much as he misses home back in Africa the long plane flight keeps him from ever visiting. LOL!

Once at the rehearsal the pastor was shocked when I hadn’t heard about “the photo”… Turns out that Angela wanted a group shot with everyone at the wedding directly after the ceremony. The pastor said in 37 years he had never done anything like that and hoped it would work out well. I smiled and said “No problem! I just did that two weeks ago out in Yosemite at a wedding”. The rehearsal dinner was out on the water at the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Lots of laughs and lots of story telling. My favorite part of the dinners are getting a chance to know everyone a little bit, and also making them more comfortable around me and a camera since I’ll be running around the next day with them non-stop.

The wedding day started as normal – hanging out with all the girls as they did all their hair and makeup prep. It’s always hilarious to sit and listen to the stories the girls laugh about throughout the morning. Poor Michelle was being picked on and teased about being “The Drunk Bridesmaid” because she finished Kevin’s drinks the night prior at the after party. Realistically though she gets bonus points for taking them for the team since she was keeping Kevin from having too many drinks before his big day. Team player all the way! Haha!

The ceremony was beautiful, and the pastor was awesome. There were several points where he needed to be directly in front of the bride and groom for ceremonial reasons. However the rest of the time he stepped off to the side. He had told me “the ceremony is NOT about me. I don’t understand the pastors who make it about them, but I try to give as much attention to the bride and groom as possible.” How great is that?

After the ceremony we went up to Federal Hill to do a few photos with the skyline in the background. I also did a dip shot (top of this blog) as I do with most of my weddings.. We had quite an audience that day, too. It was nice out and there were lots of families sitting and watching us. One lady actually came up to Angela to congratulate her, and then said that everyone looked like they were having fun and that she wished her wedding photographer took fun ones like we were doing that afternoon. I can’t even take any credit for that comment either, we were just joking around and not doing anything too specific.

The reception was back at the hotel and everyone celebrated through the evening hours. There is plenty more I could continue to write about, but I’ll save a lot more for the captions. I always feel like I have so many wonderful stories and things to say about each wedding I do. But I’m fairly sure you’re here to see photos and not just read about it. So, click past the break for 170 images from the Tickle-Ripp wedding.

Still kickin it in South Korea!
I’m here just a few more days, but I’ve spent most of this lovely (and very cold) Saturday working on my laptop catching up on email and downloading images. So, I’m going to post a brief update for everyone and share with you a selection of more images from the trip. Again, I feel it necessary to say that these are not edited and not color corrected – so please forgive me if they look a bit off.

Since the last post we’ve been through about three other cities and I’m now back in Yeongtong-gu, near Suwon… back where I started. We’re going to be chilling here and doing a few local things. We’re at that point toward the end of the trip where we’re trying to save a bit of cash. Traveling around the country has been fairly cheap… But, I’ve been on an extremely tight budget these two weeks. So, tomorrow we’re headed back to Seoul to see the Seoul Tower and Fortress there – and that’s the end of my trip.

I’ll likely write a lengthier blog Tuesday after I return to the States and have some time to really sort through images that I haven’t shared yet. So, until that time… enjoy these images from the last five days or so!

Just got off the bus for a little more caving. This one, however, was supposed to be much larger and much more impressive. Those mountains I’m pointing at… we’re about hike into those.

It was really pretty for the hazy November weather… can’t imagine what it must look like in June.

Gettin closer to the top!

Made it! That’s one HUGE entrance…

They had all these lights set up. It wasn’t this bright though… My camera is resting on the beam with a 3 second exposure.

This is a bit more accurate as far as lighting. The cave was awesome though. Took quite a while to see the whole thing.

This was one of the best tasting meals we’ve had… and we bought in the markets. For the roll, and a FULL plate of each type of noodle… we paid about $2.75.. so we got seconds on each noodle dish. The total was under $5, how awesome is that?

Wandering the markets a bit more around Samcheok before catching our bus out of town.

Dried fish anyone? The large ones handing on right are stingrays.

Hahaha!
Shortly after this we boarded the WRONG bus to Gyeongju. We had to take two more connections with the help of the drivers who made sure we moved to the right bus at each stop. The Korean’s are so nice, it was really amazing of them.

Rooms here are so cheap! This one also has TWO computers with internet connections in them for you to use. This is nicer than most college students dorms… and they only charge about $30 a night.

Some of the Royal Tombs here in Gyeongju.

One of many stone pagodas we’ve seen on this trip.

Starting our hike up the mountain to see a stone Buddha… ended up being a very loooong hike.

Little did we know that this was at the very top of the mountain. But, we made it up in time before sundown.

Beautiful sunset with all the blues and purples on the surrounding hills and mountains.

This is outside the Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto the next day. I’m bummed that they didn’t allow photography there… so sad. The granite Buddha there is one of the worlds most important religious antiquities – which is probably why you can’t photograph it…

At least the walk down the mountain was pretty.

I’m actually making into some of the photos this trip!

Me again! Having Colleen here to take a few shots means I don’t come home with just one-armed photos of me during this trip. Yay!

Decided to try one of these corn dogs on the way back to the bus. It’s dipped, cooked, dipped again, cooked again.. then has sugar and ketchup on it. It was actually pretty good… except for the ketchup, I can’t stand ketchup.

The next day we wandered around more Gyeongju. They have some really pretty parks right there in the downtown area.

One thing I find interesting is that people farm every available area they can… even right here on the side of a creek.

Wandering around Anapji Pond. They were doing construction/rebuilding so there wasn’t a ton to see.

But, it’s me again! Have you guys noticed how little I broke out my strobes on this trip? I’ll probably regret it later… oh well.

Whoaaaa. Wild, huh? Anyone hungry?
We watched the guy gut and clean one in preparation for sale, too.

Not even sure how to caption this one…

Here’s the most American thing I’ve had on this trip. Went into a Dunkin’ Donuts to sit and warm up… so I needed to buy something. The Vanilla Mocha thing I got was awesome… just too much whipped cream.

Waiting for the train! Heading back to Suwon.

So, that wraps this update. I’ll be heading home in two days. I have a ton of work waiting for me when I get back. Well, a wedding to finish and a calendar to wrap up. Excited for Thanksgiving, too! I’ll be in the Bay Area… so if you’re going to be nearby, be sure to call me up so we can catch up on life!

I made it to Korea!
Well, I’m only in South Korea… so don’t worry, haha. And check out this shot of me and Colleen on the bus ride from the airport to Suwon… I look halfway decent after being on a plane alllll night. I left LAX at 12:30a to Incheon and was supposed to connect through Bejing. Well, Bejing was snowed over, so we actually landed somewhere else, waited, refueled, then flew to Bejing, I connected, and then flew to Incheon. It was long… let me tell you.

But, I’ve actually been in Korea for a week. I arrived Tuesday afternoon. As much as I’d love to write a long detailed blog with my experience… I have way too many photos I’d like to share. So, please forgive me as many of these are unedited and straight from camera. I was able to do a light edit, but my laptop screen isn’t calibrated (I bought it two days before my trip). So, they will look a bit rough. I’m sorry, haha.

The markets in Suwon. Really awesome stuff, some of it I won’t eat… I’ll be honest.

We hiked up the Fortress wall and had this amazing view of the city.

Suwon markets at night. It was starting to get chilly… and would continue to get cold as my trip progressed.

Late night Potbingsu (shaved ice) with Colleen, Chelsea, and Frank.

Colleen and I went to the Korean Folk Village. She made friends with this horse…

… I made friends with this cow! He was pretty awesome.

Ninja training at the University here in town… I say training because, obviously, we can see them… and you never see true ninjas.

Check out the library at the school… how intimidating. I bet you feel smarter just walking in…

Dinner! One of many amazing meals that I’ve had on my trip so far.

Wandering the streets of Seoul. Waiting for the sun to go down for the lantern festival that night.

Me and Colleen. Been walking around allll day. Tiring.

You can leave your own messages at the lantern festival on these smaller lanterns.

The Lantern Festival was really beautiful. I’m glad that we caught it on our way through Seoul. I didn’t get to see the Seoul Tower, but we’re heading back at the end of the week to check it out.

If I had a marker I would have left a message or prayer myself…

Bulgogi with June and Colleen late that night.

Check it out! It’s North Korea! Across the water… June took us to the DMZ and we were able to see part of North Korea… crazy to be that close…

Wandering around this little shopping town with colorful buildings and roofs. Such gorgeous weather.

Sleeping on the Subway… if I knew exactly how far we had to go… I would have slept too.

We went to see the palace… and Colleen ended up being interviewed but these college students…

So I went to take photos while she was busy, haha.

On the way back into the subway I was interviewed. They had to take a photo with me, so I took one with them, haha!

Headed back to the subway after figuring out the trains/buses we needed to take that night.

Check out this budget motel!?! Haha, a round bed! Uncomfortable as hell, and my feet hung off it, but the room was nice and warm in the freezing weather.

It was gorgeous at the beach. Don’t get me wrong, it was cold as hell, but still very nice.

Wandering the pier.

We went to Seoraksan National Park to go hiking. It was freezing. I actually had to buy ear cover things cuz it was so windy.

Hiked up to one of the water falls. Gorgeous hike, just cold and windy.

These guys were HILARIOUS! They’re old friends who’ve known each other since Jr. High. They played Rock-Paper-Scissor to see who was going to have to get wet in the freezing weather.

And after a few rounds… one of the guys lost. Poor guy, he had to have been freezing afterward.

The views around the park really were stunning though.

This soup was amazing after hiking in the cold. We still had one more hike to go, too.

This photo doesn’t show the scale of this 40 foot Buddha.

I’m sure it’s even more beautiful during the summer months.

Had to photograph this little dude at temple we hiked to.

I totally meant to crop this photo… damn it. Anyway, this is the bridge in Sokcho at night. Really beautiful colors. I need to do more night photography I think.

This little guy was still moving when he was brought out to us. I’m not going to lie… he was delicious. And he was still moving when we were done, too.

Now this was so cool it was almost creepy. It’s a squid farm/thing where they dry these squid on this poles in the yard. We also stumbled upon it the night before, when it was dark and dimly lit.

I’m not a fan of squid… but I’m sure this is delicious looking for many people.

Wandering the fish markets. Plenty of dried fish for your enjoyment..

Lunch today was made up of three things. One was a simple gimbap. The other was a squid/egg kind of thing. It was fried and tasted a lot like a Denver omelet to be honest. And, of course, soup.

There is no shame here on the streets of Korea… hahaha!

Caving!

The caves were actually gorgeous. We’ll be going to a larger one tomorrow, too.

Pretty sweet room this evening. I actually have internet and can update you all without going to a coffee shop!

Well, that’s all for now. Hopefully you all actually took the time to at least skim these photos. I’m not sure when I’ll be back online next. Probably not for a few days. But feel free to leave any comments or shoot me a message. And check back soon, I may have the chance to do another post sooner than expected.

I’m leaving the States! In about five hours or so I’ll be boarding Air China and headed to the East! I’ll be spending the next two weeks traveling around South Korea with my friend Colleen – whom I haven’t seen face to face since our days in college in Michigan.
And how cool is a little reunion in a completely different country, huh?

I’m bringing pretty minimal amounts of everything – including my camera gear. I’ll be headed there with only my Mark III, wide and normal L lenses, and one 580EXII. I’ll also have my laptop – so keep your fingers crossed that I’ll be about to post a mid-trip update!

I’ve been pretty busy the last couple weeks editing and booking more shoots for when I return to the US at the end of the month. My apologies for the lack of any serious update in the last two weeks, but, as I’ve said before, my contract work keeps me from releasing images until this project goes to press.

I’m potentially going to be updating my Twitter feed while traveling, but that’s still uncertain. Either way, keep yours eyes here on my blog for updates on my travels!

The DeLand Wedding – Michigan.
What a beautiful wedding, and what an amazing time I had. Todd is an old friend of mine from college who, instead of hiring someone local, opted to fly me out to Michigan from my home in Los Angeles, California to photograph his wedding weekend.
This was a HUGE compliment for me not only because of the expense in bringing a photographer cross country for a wedding, but also because Todd is a photographer himself – and as such he’s more critical of the quality of other people’s work.

Todd, his beautiful wife Jessica, and I had a great time creating some truly amazing and fun photos of their big weekend. I spent two full days with them and their families photographing all the weekend’s events. We also went out and made some gorgeous images, like the one above, on Lake Michigan, sunset photos on Crystal Lake, and we even did a night fashion-style type shoot in a crumbling abandoned building!

This is one of my favorite shots from the night shoot!
Why have normal boring wedding images when it’s so easy to create something like this!?! Jessica was an amazing bride to work with – so open to ideas, shooting, and walking through abandoned buildings in her wedding dress during the reception!! And I knew Todd was looking forward to doing a shoot like this, too.

Overall, I had a truly amazing time with the DeLand’s and both of their families. They went out of their way to make me feel welcome and part of the family. When I thanked them all and said what a huge compliment it was to me to have been brought out for the wedding, Todd responded with “Well, I knew what I was getting. And we’re really happy you could do it.”

..and the weekend didn’t stop there..

I even managed to do an entire engagement shoot while I was in town for the weekend.

Mike and Christina have booked me for their wedding next summer – also in Michigan, haha. It worked out perfectly that I was able to do an engagement shoot with them while in the state for Todd’s wedding. I stopped in the small Bavarian town of Frakenmuth on my way back to Detroit on Sunday.
The three of us were able to create some really fun, playful, and vibrant shots. I’m excited to edit down the rest of the shots. I already have a couple other favorites from some bridge shots that we took!

So check back soon! I’ll have a ton of updates to my portfolio for racing I’ve been covering. I won’t be updating my Wedding section for a while because I need to finish the images for the clients before sharing more with all of you, lol!

I’m finally back in Los Angeles after tons of traveling the last two weeks.
I have five model shoots, four sports events, one vacation (not mine), and one wedding to edit… Needless to say, I’m going to be extremely busy.

I’m in the process of getting images edited and uploaded to both my blog and my portfolio. So, I’ll keep this post short, and instead simply share three other images with you all.
The above image of Kelly was shot in Michigan at a furniture store in town. They were great and not only allowed me to shoot on short notice, but also gave me all the time I needed to make my images.

This image of Talisha was shot at the Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority house where I was staying while in Michigan. Talisha was great, and totally open to the wacky idea of “let’s wrap your head in ribbon and see how it looks”.

This is one of a number of great images I shot of Jaime while I was home in the Bay Area. I love this girl, so much fun to go out and shoot with, and we always come home with great shots. I’ll have more later from the night part of this shoot, too.

Check out this location…
How freakin’ cool is that?! I’m gonna have to find a model to photograph here before they clean up whatever the hell it is they’re doing… I’m thinkin night shoot, hot girl, construction clothes – or lack there of – and some rockin’ lighting.

If any of you down here in LA want to help make this happen, give me a call or shoot me an email/text. If not, I’ll find someone :)

In other news my portfolio is now updated, so now you can view the images I’ve shot in the last week in the Models section.Â There is also one new surf image up, too.
I’m also planning a trip right now… so, during that time you will still continue to see updates of everything from fashion/modeling, to sports, to possibly a little journalism – returning to my roots.

So, go check the port, see if you like the new work. Comment it, or just email me like some of you have.